Broken Record

I'll be the first to admit that my posts may becoming a bit like a broken record, repeating the complaints about the Cornhusker football team and how they keep losing over and over again. But there are different kinds of records, as well, and Bill Callahan has broken his share as head coach of the Nebraska football team. Here are some of the "highlights:"

-In 2004 the Huskers went 5-6, giving Nebraska their first losing season since 1961.

-2004 also saw the end of Nebraska's streak of going to bowl games for 35 straight years. Which just happened to be an NCAA record, by the way.

-The Cornhuskers' 70-10 blowout loss to Texas Tech in 2004 was the worst defeat in Nebraska football history.

-During their 35-17 win over Iowa State, ISU got off 102 offensive snaps, the most ever against Nebraska.

-This year's 45-14 loss to Oklahoma State was the worst home loss for Nebraska since 1958.

-So far this season Nebraska has given up 40 or more points in three games for the first time since 1943. They are on pace to become Nebraska's worst defense statistically since 1948.

-Currently Nebraska ranks 105th in total defense, giving up an average of 457.38 per game. If that average stands at the end of the season, it will be a school record.

Quite an impressive list, huh? Guess what? Callahan broke another streak this weekend that you won't be reading about anywhere else. I've been going to Nebraska games since I was about 5 or 6-years-old. And while I've lost count as to exactly how many games I've been to, I know that I've been, on average around 1 game a year. Some years I went more than once, and others I didn't go at all, so according to my estimates, going into Saturday's game the Huskers were 26-0 when I've been in attendance. Turns out even whatever weird mojo was keeping me from witnessing a Husker loss in person ran out this last Saturday as I sat in Memorial Stadium and witnessed first-hand Nebraska's 14-36 loss to Texas A&M.

Oh yeah, Texas A&M also broke a little streak of its own on Saturday. A&M's victory not only snapped a five-game losing string in Lincoln, but it was also their first win at Memorial Stadium in 52 years.

Sigh.

This entire year I've been calling for Defensive Coordinator Kevin Cosgrove's head, as the defense has just been embarrassing (as you can see from some of the stats above and in a previous post). But, now, I'm going to have to say that it's probably time for Coach Bill Callahan to start looking for another job as well.

Here's the deal: up until now, I've tried to be supportive of Callahan, and it hasn't been easy. It's hard to support a program and it's head coach when they're losing. It's also easy to jump on a bandwagon trying to run a guy out of town when he isn't performing. That said, he's the head coach of Nebraska, and as such, I want to see him be successful. But more than that, I like the guy personally. I like his demeanor and despite a couple of missteps (the throat-slash, calling Oklahoma fans a "bunch of f****ing hillbillies," and calling Tom Osborne a "crusty, old f****"), I think he's a pretty classy guy. I mean, let's be honest, nobody is perfect and we've all done or said things in the heat of the moment that we wish we could take back. I've also said repeatedly that if Callahan can win at least 9 games this season, he deserves to keep his job for at least one more year. On Saturday, I changed my mind.

Before you starting thinking I changed my mind because Callahan broke my personal Husker streak, let me tell you straight up that's not the case. I just think that last Saturday's game proved that Callahan and his staff are incapable of turning this team around and are probably incapable of coaching at the college level. This has probably been evident for a while now, but for some reason, be it my optimism, my love of Nebraska football, or because I wanted to be sure to give Bill Callahan a fair chance (at least 5 years) to make his program work, I couldn't allow myself to see it. Saturday opened my eyes, and here are 3 reasons I finally saw the light:

-First, until Nebraska went 6-6 in the regular season during Frank Solich's second to last year as head coach, Nebraska hadn’t lost four games in a season once since 1968. Since Callahan became head coach they've gone 5-6, 8-4, 9-5, and Saturday's loss to A&M put Nebraska at 4-4 so far this year. That's 4 or more losses a year, every year under Callahan.

-Second, Nebraska is 0-16 when trailing at the half under Callahan. Even this last Saturday, when Nebraska was down by just 2 points, trailing A&M 14-16 at the half, Nebraska couldn't make any adjustments to come back and win. Not only did Nebraska give up 20 points in the second half on Saturday, but the offense got shutout after halftime. In fact, Nebraska has been outscored 49-0 in the third quarter in its four losses this season. And Guess what? It gets worse. Callahan not only has problems when trailing at the half, but he's 1-8 over the last nine games and 3-15 overall when trailing after the first quarter. I'm sorry, but the man and his staff simply seem incapable of making adjustments. That's just bad coaching, plain and simple.

-Third, Callahan kept Cosgrove as his defensive coordinator. I have repeatedly enumerated Cosgrove's flaws on this blog, but when it comes down to it, Callahan is the head coach and so he has to take his share of the blame for keeping Cosgrove on his staff. Again, say what you will about the talent level of the defense, but I was at the game on Saturday, and I place the blame for the poor defensive performance solely on the shoulders of the coaching staff. Nebraska got shredded by the option and gave up 167 rushing yards to A&M's quarterback Stephen McGee (which was a career-high for McGee, by the way). The thing is, being at the game, I saw the defense play with an intensity I have not seen in a long, long time, but they were never in a formation that lent itself to stopping the option. Never, not once, did Nebraska put 8 or 9 guys in the box. In fact, during one series, A&M was at 3rd and 2 inside the 20. Nebraska went with a pass coverage formation, and my mom turned to me and said: "What are they doing? The quarterback is going to run it. You know the quarterback is going to run it." Guess what? My mom was right. McGee ran it. They got the first down. Then, a couple of plays later, they scored. Now, if my freakin' mom can tell you that the defense isn't lined up how they should be, what does that say about the coaches? Un-freakin'-believable.

So, there you have it, I've officially jumped on the "Fire Bill Callahan" Bandwagon. However, unlike local columnists Tom Shatel and Steve Sipple I do not want him gone today. Not only would that be unfair to his players, but to be honest, I would like to see him go out a winner. In fact, I would like nothing more than to see him win his last 4 games and have a regular season record of 8-4. If he could do that, go on to a bowl and win, he'd finish the season 9-4. 9-4 ain't bad. Heck, it was good enough for head coach Bob Devaney to keep his job after the '68 season (and coincidentally, go on to win back-to-back National titles in '70 and '71). The thing is, I don't see that happening. And even if I did, Callahan has successfully put together a great list of reasons of why he shouldn't keep his job, and they go way beyond whether he can have a winning season or not.

However, despite the fact that I no longer want him as head coach for my favorite team, I will be cheering for Bill Callahan and the Huskers from in front of my TV this Saturday as they take on Texas. After all, even though I think we should break up, I'm going to do my part keep this from getting any uglier. Let's just hope that Coach Callahan does the same. And at the risk of truly becoming a broken record, I'm sure I'll have something to say about the game afterwards as well.

...And at the risk of truly becoming a broken record, I'm sure I'll have something to say about the game afterwards as well.

...And at the risk of truly becoming a broken record, I'm sure I'll have something to say about the game afterwards as well.

...And at the risk of truly becoming a broken record, I'm sure I'll have something to say about the game afterwards as well.